Nemrut Dağı, TurkeyPantheon of Heroes, Kazan 1912Sudak, CrimeaInterior of Blue Mosque, IstanbulSunset over the Black Sea, Sevastopol 2006Tatar Dancer, outside KazanSergiev Posad, RussiaOrtakoy, Istanbul

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First solo trip through Europe, 1992: From February until June of 1992, I took my first extended trip through Europe on my own. I visited Italy, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Poland, before doubling back through Czechoslovakia and Hungary and then going through Croatia and Slovenia en route back to Italy. These photos are not of the highest quality and unfortunately many of them have been lost. They include the portion of my trip between Athens and Budapest.
   
Shots from Turkey, 1992-2000: These are photos taken at various times while I was living in Turkey from 1992-1999, as well as some shots from my stay on Cunda Island during the summer of 2000. More recent photos of Turkey, taken after I bought a digital camera in 2004, can be found below.
   
First trip to Russia, 1993: In August of 1993, I went to Russia for the first time, flying to Moscow and back for two weeks from Istanbul. After spending a few days from Moscow, we traveled by train to St. Petersburg, then made our way back to Moscow via Novgorod and Tver. Unfortunately, many of the photographs have been lost. More recent shots of Russia, taken during the digital camera era, can be found below.

Middle East trip, 1995: In August and September of 1995, I took a five-week overland trip through southern Turkey, Syria, Jordan, and Israel. After crossing into Syria from Antakya, I visited Aleppo, Latakya, Tartus, Hama, and Damascus. In Jordan I went to Amman and the Dead Sea, and in Israel I visited Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. From Tel Aviv I flew back to Istanbul.
Balkan tours, 1996 and 1997: In 1996 and 1997 I took two separate trips through the Balkans. In August and September of 1996, I took a bus from Istanbul to Thessaloniki, then traveled to Crete and from there to Albania. After two weeks traveling around Albania, I crossed over into Macedonia, and from there to Belgrade, Yugoslavia. I then traveled north and crossed over into Hungary, then made my way back to Istanbul via Romania and Bulgaria. In September of 1997 I traveled again to Thessaloniki, but this time traveled north to Macedonia and then into Kosova before again going north to Hungary and then back to Turkey through Romania and Bulgaria.
   
Russia, Central Europe, and the Balkans, 1998: In July-September of 1998, I took a ten-week trip that began with a $100 one-way flight from Istanbul to Moscow. I spent two weeks traveling in Russia, then spent another two weeks in the Baltic republics. From there I traveled through Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia, Croatia, and Bosnia before heading back up through Croatia, Slovenia and Hungary and returning to Istanbul via Romania and Bulgaria.
   
Map of Asia
Asia trip, 1999: Starting in March of 1999, I took a five-month trip through India, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and China. From Istanbul, I flew to New Delhi, then traveled around India for five weeks, including stops in Agra, Jodhpur, Jaipur, Jaissalmer, Udaipur, Bombay, Goa, Bangalore, Madras, Pondicherry, Bubanasvar, and Calcutta. From Calcutta I flew to Bangkok. I spent only a couple of weeks in Thailand, staying in Bangkok and Ko Samui before crossing by bridge from Udon Thani into Vientiane, the capital of Laos. In Laos I stayed in Vientiane for a few days before heading east to Savahnakket in order to cross into Vietnam, where I would spend five weeks. In Vietnam I visited Hue, Nha Trang, Dalat, Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh City, and Hanoi. After Hanoi I crossed north into China, where I spent another five weeks, visiting Nanjing, Yangsuo, Guilin, Dali, Lijiang, Chengdu, Xian, Shanghai, and Beijing. From Beijing I flew to Budapest, and from there traveled south and east through Romania and Bulgaria before arriving back in Istanbul on August 14, 1999. As is the case with many of these older photos, many pictures have been lost over the past decade.
Photos from Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, 2004: I first visited Azerbaijan in the Summer and Fall of 2004, during which time I worked in the archives and libraries of Baku under the auspices of an IREX research grant. Azerbaijan is a beautiful country, though I didn't travel as much as I should have. The photographs in this album are mainly from Northern Azerbaijan and Baku. There are also a few shots from the archives, which is where I spent most of my time!

 
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Crimea, 2006: As a graduate student in 2006, I received a grant from the Council of American Overseas Research Centers, which provided me with funds to research for six weeks in Istanbul and six weeks in the Crimea. While in Crimea I rented an apartment in Simferopol, which is where the archives and libararies I would be working in were located. The Crimea was great--it's a really beautiful place (if a trifle crowded), and the research was very helpful.
 
     
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Japan, 2007: These pictures were taken during my first trip to Japan, in December of 2007, during which time I took part in three symposia organized by the Slavic Research Center at the University of Hokkaido in Sapporo. It was a busy schedule, but this was nevertheless one of the most interesting and enjoyable trips of my life--many thanks again to the great folks at SRC! The first several photographs are from Sapporo, on the northern island of Hokkaido. From Sapporo, we traveled by train to Kyoto, where a second workshop was held. Fortunately, I gave myself an extra day after the Kyoto workshop had ended, and was able to rent a bicycle and see something of the city.
 
     
     
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Russia, 2004-2007: My first trip to Russia was a two-week visit in 1993. Since then, I have traveled to Russia several times, but most of the photographs in this album are from the years 2004-2007, during which time I spent about eighteen months in Kazan and St. Petersburg. Most of these photographs are from those two cities, althought there are also some shots from Moscow and Ufa, where I stayed for shorter periods of time.
 
     
     
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Turkey, 2004-2008: I have spent more of my adult life in Istanbul than any other city. After living there for seven years during the years 1992-1999, I have returned several times for research purposes both during and after graduate school. The photographs in this album are from the more recent (digital camera era) visits, although I hope to eventually include scans of my earlier photographs in another album.

 
     
     
During the course of 2008-2009 I researched in Russia, Turkey, and Georgia, and took side-trips to Michigan, Montana, Vancouver, Amsterdam, and Paris. Beginning in Moscow in July of 2009, this year-long album then proceeds to Ufa (Bashkortostan, Russia) and Kazan (Tatarstan, Russia), before moving to Istanbul in September. December is spent in North America, before moving on to Istanbul again in January (with brief visits to Paris and Amsterdam ). In April and May I spent six weeks traveling and researching in Georgia, which I reached overland from Istanbul via Trabzon. On my way back to Istanbul at the end of May, I visited Artvin, Kars, and Van, Turkey.